Currently, preparing the patient for and performing vein and artery cannulation is time consuming, challenging in terms of locating the blood vessels and, under circumstances, ensuring the desired vessel is accessed (e.g., vein vs. artery). Current guided cannulation devices are either too expensive or difficult to use. General purpose imaging systems are gaining acceptance but they are expensive and represent an increase in workflow complexity because they are not sterile. In addition, general imaging systems are limited in terms of their ability to image in near field, i.e., closed to the surface of the skin. There is a need for improved placant devices.
Additional challenges remain unaddressed in many areas related to endovascular devices. One challenge that remains is for devices and methods endovascular positioning within or towards the center of a vessel. Another challenge that remains are devices and methods that rely on acoustic triangulation or positioning to localize and place endovascular devices. Another challenge related to work flow efficiency and monitoring of the placement and confirmation of endovascular device locations. There remains a need in the endovascular field for devices, systems and methods that address these challenges.
In addition RFID (radio frequency identification) tags are currently being used for a number of applications including medical, in particular for inventory management. The idea of using RFID to optimize processes has been applied for tracking documents in a workflow.